Just Be 30-Day Challenge

Just Be Real – Day Five
Webster says ‘Real’ means true; not merely apparent; existing or occurring as fact; actual rather than imaginary, ideal or fictitious; something that actually exists
Synonyms: authentic, actual, sincere, genuine, evident

God says in Colossians 3:3, ‘Your old life is dead. Your new life, which is your real life – even though invisible to spectators – is with Christ in God. He is your life. When Christ (your real life, remember) shows up again on this earth, you’ll show up, too – the real you, the glorious you. Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ (MSG).’

Authenticity isn’t the norm today. If nothing else, social media has changed that for us. Today’s technology has, for that matter. We could not exist apart from it, but like the masks we are forced to wear to protect us from this invisible virus, so too we hide behind the screen and the anonymity of our devices. We put our best face forward always and very few know the real ‘me’.

When I was in high school in the eighties (I’m tattling on myself, hehe), we had a motto. ‘Be real!’ we would emphasize. My dad did not like my motto. In fact, he said, ‘Don’t you ever say that again in my presence!’ I said, ‘Com’on, Dad, be real! Seriously?!’ Yea, he was real, and serious, and I wasn’t allowed to attend some function I had looked forward to. I have thought a lot about that though this past year as I have been on a quest to finally meet ‘the real me’.

We have so many fronts we can hide behind. Even stores hide behind fronts, displaying only what is wished to be visible to customers. We too display only what we wish to be visible to others. We have slang to cover our meanings and pseudo-shams to mask our intents and there is the me that I only want others to see. There is the life that I had wanted to have but now resemble just slightly as it became too much effort to obtain. I traded the permanent on the altar of the immediate, so to speak.

But God says the realness of us is buried in Him. We had a semblance of a life and we traded it for what Christ came to offer. His life, a new life, a real life, in exchange for our old and ratty, unauthentic, ingenuine life. No longer will I present the appearance of authenticity but not in actuality yet in Him the generic will be made real and the darkness will be exposed by His light.

DAY FIVE CHALLENGE: Attempt to be even more “real” in your exchanges today!